A late goal from SRU’s Molly Buettner helped defeat the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven (2-4, 0-1 PSAC) Tuesday in the Slippery Rock University lacrosse team’s first home conference game of the young season.
The Slippery Rock women (2-3, 1-1 PSAC) returned to their home field having lost their past three games, all on the road against nationally-ranked opponents. The 14-13 victory was a measure of revenge of sorts for the Green and White. LHU’s visit to Mihalik-Thompson Stadium during last spring’s regular season resulted in a defeat, and a rematch in the PSAC playoffs had the same result.
It took only 1:18 for freshman attacker Buettner to open the contest’s scoring. However, the advantage, which would be the only one SRU would hold in the first half, lasted all of 32 seconds before Lock Haven’s Kate Hooper tied the score.
Fellow freshman Emily Benham, and upperclassmen Sami Gentzler, Kelly Muenster, and ShyAnne Toomer also scored on Lock Haven’s Lauren Girardi in the first half on the way to a 7-5 deficit at the interval.
Two other scorers were added early in the second period when sophomore attacker Hayley Pimentel and junior midfielder Tori Penders helped their team catch up. Again, the Bald Eagles jumped back ahead as Caitlin Morrow tallied her third and fourth goals of the evening.
The teams proceeded to exchange goals until, with a little over six minutes remaining, they were deadlocked at 13. It took four minutes, and a save by Rock goalie Haley Barrett on a free position shot, for the game to tilt Slippery Rock’s way.
It was then that Buettner charged through traffic and scored the biggest goal in her young college career. With over a minute left, Lock Haven had an offensive possession to try to once again knot the score up. It turned the ball over to SRU sophomore midfielder Katie Hart, though, allowing the home team to bleed the clock out.
With the circumstances of a back-and-forth game, second-year head coach Kelsey Van Alstyne was okay with her defense’s showing.
“I think [Lock Haven] has some really good players, some really good drivers,” she said. “We try and keep it around ten [on the defensive side]. There are definitely some things to work on. I think, offensively, we’ve really struggled the last few games, so it was nice to put 14 points on the board.”
Half a dozen players scored multiple points for Van Alstyne’s squad, as Gentzler led the team in points on the day, notching three goals and an assist, while Buettner and Pimentel each put up two goals and an assist. Benham and Penders both found the back of the net twice, and Toomer scored and assisted on a goal. Barrett recorded six saves in the win.
The victory was the only the Rock’s fourth against Lock Haven, and only its second since 2007, in a series that dates back 43 years. The team will look to down Kutztown in a home clash Saturday at 1 p.m.
